PREFACE. 



of the animals whose shells they gather. An old but revered 

 writer said only too truly that the student of shells " may be able 

 to tell us the number of whorls in a spiral univalve or the form 

 of the hinge in a bivalve, but if he knows not the nature of the 

 organs of respiration, digestion, and reproduction of the animal 

 to which the shell belongs, and contentedly remains in his ignorance, 

 he has yet to learn the value of method in natural history. He 

 cherishes with mistaken fondness the maxim of Linnaeus, Nomina 

 norse oportet qui rem scire velit^ while he overlooks a more 

 important object, expressed in the motto of the Linnean Society, 

 Natura discere mores." 



I need only now add that I am still willing to help every young 

 conchologist over his difficulties. 



J. W. W. 



128 MANSFIELD ROAD, 

 HAVERSTOCK HILL, N.W. 



